September 12, 2008.
The Workplace Flexibility 2010 News Roundup is a compilation of the latest news articles, reports and other materials related to workplace flexibility. The News Roundup appears twice-weekly. If you have questions about any of the items, please contact WF2010@law.georgetown.edu.
Articles
Phased Retirement Programs Important to Employers
“Testifying on Sept. 9 before a U.S. Department of Labor advisory panel, Mercer retirement consultant Pierce Noble said phased retirement programs are important to employers, employees and the U.S. economy, but that the broad implementation of these programs can only be achieved through a joint effort on the part of the Labor Department, the Internal Revenue Service, Congress and the nation's employers.”
Work/Life Overload
“Conventional wisdom has it that first-year law students can only talk about the law, and new parents can only talk about their children. Try being a 1L and becoming a parent in the same year. For the past six months all I've been able to talk about is how my son Andrew is unconstitutional neither facially nor as applied, and how Mass G.L. c. 234A, §68 ate all his bananas and oatmeal, num num. I can't be sure, but I think people at dinner parties have caused physical injury to themselves trying to get out of conversations with me. While it is true that being a first-year law student demands at least fifteen hours of your attention in any given day, being a parent of a newborn requires twenty-nine.”
Washington state tries 4-day week
“Feeling the pinch of soaring energy costs, and with a projected budget deficit on the horizon, Gov. Chris Gregoire has asked a few hundred state employees to start working four-day weeks — an admitted "experiment" suggested by the workers themselves. Gregoire said Wednesday officials would meet next week to work out how they'll implement the planned four 10-hour days, including decisions on how long the pilot project should run. The Monday-Thursday work week will be tried for everyone at two small agencies: the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, and the Office of Minority and Women's Business Enterprises. Seven other agencies will try the four-day week at selected offices, Gregoire said in a statement.”
Handling everyday issues should be goal of all, not just women
“Too often in the recent political and media arena, work/life wellness has been reduced to a "women's issue" or a "private choice." These two frames limit our ability to address work/life stressors fairly or productively. We have not asked those questions of any male candidate, and perhaps we should. Parenting is not a "women's issue." Neither is balancing work and life. This is a challenge that has implications for all: men and women, families and organizations, communities and nation. The division of domestic labor, including child care, is one of the primary sources of conflict and dissatisfaction in marriages. The lack of organizational support for families through flextime programs, child-care resources and fiscally rewarding part-time work often prevents workplaces from recruiting and retaining valued employees.”
Study: More time off for maternity leave benefits careers
“Expanded family leave policies, while they often take employees out of the labor force for longer periods of time, can be a boon to the new mothers' careers, according to a new study. "Maternity leaves, if they offer job protection, can help women who have children improve their job continuity and eventually their economic outlook," said the lead author of the project, Michael Baker of the University of Toronto. Researchers looked at Canadian leave policies and employment among new mothers in Canada from 1976 to 2002.”
Finding a work-life balance
“For 2008 Accent on Excellence honoree Meredith Harper Bonham, a multitasking mother of two who works full time while volunteering for numerous causes and pursuing her doctorate, life is in “a delicate balance.” Bonham moved to the Mohawk Valley in 1993, and lives in Clinton with her husband, Jay, and her sons, Charlie, 7, and Teddy, 3. “I find, as the mother of two young children, I’m able to find a work-life balance,” she said, adding that the slower pace of life in the area and her employer, Hamilton College, facilitate that.”
Palin Energizing Women From All Walks of Life
” "I wouldn't even call it a Palin movement, I'd call it a sleeping giant that has been awakened," Baron, 56, said at a rally here Tuesday. She described its members as a silent majority of women in Middle America who "are raising our families, who work if we have to, but love our country and our families first." "And until now, we haven't had anyone to identify with," Baron said, adding that traditional feminist groups such as the National Organization for Women do "not represent me." Since her rapid transition from obscure Alaska governor to GOP vice presidential nominee, Palin has reenergized the presidential race and also further polarized it, setting her instant fan base, which sees her as a pit bull with lipstick, against those who dismiss her as just another Republican who happens to be a woman and seems intent on rekindling a culture war.””
Palin: wrong woman, wrong message
“Here's the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that even the anti-feminist right wing -- the folks with a headlock on the Republican Party -- are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice president. We owe this to women -- and to many men too -- who have picketed, gone on hunger strikes or confronted violence at the polls so women can vote. We owe it to Shirley Chisholm, who first took the "white-male-only" sign off the White House, and to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who hung in there through ridicule and misogyny to win 18 million votes. But here is even better news: It won't work. This isn't the first time a boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him and opposes everything most other women want and need. Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie.”
Blogs
Working Moms Site of the Week: Workplace Flexibility 2010
"Moms who want a flexible work arrangement should check out Workplace Flexibility 2010 for case studies and research on what works in corporate America. The project, an initiative of the Georgetown University Law Center, advocates for family friendly work policies and legislation. Whether you’re a working mom looking for statistics for negotiating flexible hours in your own job, or an employer trying to make your workplace more humane, Workplace Flexibility 2010 is a great place to start."
Workplace Flexibility - A New Standard for the American Workplace
"In today’s difficult economy, we are all more acutely aware of the changing nature of work in this country. American employees are increasingly concerned about job security and losing crucial benefits–while the demands on them in a 24/7, global marketplace have intensified exponentially. Many employees are working more hours than ever before, while others–especially low-wage workers and those in the growing contingent workforce–have little or no control over how many hours they will work in any given week.As our workplaces have become more demanding, the demographics of the American workforce have shifted dramatically. For most American families, the reality of today’s economy is that both members of a couple must work full time–and even that leaves many families stretching to cover the rising costs of gas, groceries, and health care."
Feldblum on Phased Retirement as National Policy
“The ERISA Advisory Council should consider recommending to the labor secretary that phased retirement be encouraged as a matter of "national policy," Georgetown University law professor Chai R. Feldblum said Sept. 9 . . . . There is a broader question that needs to be addressed before acting on tax and qualification issues related to phased retirement, which fall within the jurisdiction of the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service, and the form and type of notices to be provided and those concerning fiduciary responsibility and liability, which fall within the jurisdiction of the Labor Department, Feldblum said. Many of these tax and notice issues are necessarily intertwined with policy decisions that first need to be made on the broader question of "how to meet employer workforce needs while ensuring adequate retirement security for American workers," Feldblum said.”
For Professor Chai Feldblum's written testimony, click here.
Talking About Working From Home
“Tory Johnson, the chief executive of the New York recruiting services firm Women for Hire, is a co-author of “Will Work From Home,” a new, comprehensive guide to home-based jobs. Ms. Johnson did research on an array of home-based workers — from those working for $8 an hour as virtual customer service representatives, to those who run businesses from home, to professional and executive-level free agents and employees. Tens of millions of Americans do some kind of work from home, according to federal data. And because of increases in fuel and other energy costs, more employers and individuals will undoubtedly be exploring their work-from-home options.”
Will Palin, others push this mom's issues?
“Forgive me for cutting through the applause for Sarah Palin, the newly
crowned icon of working mothers everywhere, but as a working mother myself I'm wondering how she's going to help my family. Does that sound selfish? Well, the way I see it, Palin's presence on stage as a vice presidential candidate is hardly historic. Geraldine Ferraro did that when I was a child. So far, Palin's status as a working mother tells me what mothers around the country already know: If you are willing, and can afford, to leave your newborn baby and children in someone else's care, you too can take on any job.”
Do Women Make Good Leaders?
“It's in vogue to claim that women don't reach the very top—Sarah Palin notwithstanding—because we don't want to. We "choose" lower roles because we put more emphasis on family and child-rearing. Why do women make only 80 cents for every dollar men make? It's because we "choose" lower-paying careers. On the bright side, opting for a better work-life balance may just prove women's superior intelligence. In any case, it's certainly a fact that society needs women leaders. Why? Because female leadership styles produce happier and more loyal employees. We are superior motivators, listeners, and nurturers. We're better at working out compromises. We're great at consensus-building (except, maybe, for Sarah Barracuda). All this translates to better employee performance, productivity, and innovation.”
Government Officials Are Not Alone in Bringing Babies to Work
“Governor Sebelius was actually responsible for starting a babies-at-work program in a Kansas agency that has now been adopted by more than 20 other Kansas agencies. This variation on integrating work and family has drawn heated discussion in recent days, particularly related to how bringing a baby to work isn't an option available to most Americans. But the Parenting in the Workplace Institute is working to change that. The Institute is launching a "pilot program" initiative to actively start more formal programs in which parents can bring their babies to work every day for approximately the first six months of life (or until crawling, whichever comes first).”
Global News
Changed expectations over maternity leave
“We receive a lot of questions surrounding maternity rights and how an employee's rights alter when they become pregnant. This shows that there is a lot of uncertainty and, ultimately, a lack of confidence on behalf of business owners, concerning mothers and pregnant workers. A pregnant woman should be afforded the same rights as an employee who is not expecting a child. Pregnancy is not a shroud that protects women in the workplace from redundancy, as some may think; the real issue is that pregnancy cannot be cited as the reason for redundancy. It is, therefore, neither the cause nor the refuge from dismissal from work.”
How to readjust that work-life balance
“There are two reasons why your work may be spilling over into your private life: first, you're not good at managing your time; and secondly, there's a culture of long hours in your workplace, which inhibits you from leaving at a reasonable time each day. If it's the first, there are a range of things you can do to achieve your work objectives and then be able to have an outside life.”
It is no time to retire as the gloom deepens
“Last year 81 per cent of requests to work beyond retirement age were granted, compared with 72 per cent in 2007. Most businesses - 71 per cent - allow workers to carry on in full-time roles, while 66 per cent offered part-time employment. Large numbers of organisations also offer different types of flexible working beyond retirement, including phased retirement, employees taking a pension and working and seasonal or project work. However, the CBI gave warning that there was confusion among many employers over the interaction of the right to request flexible retirement and age discrimination regulations for pensions.”